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Scientists trek to Everest to unlock mysteries of the brain

by Suzanne Ahearne

Monks with EEG monitors. Credit: University of Victoria
For decades, scientists have brought monks
and others into their labs to measure their brain activity while
meditating. Now, for the first time, scientists trekked to the remote
Mt. Everest region of Nepal to record the brain activity of meditating
Tibetan Buddhist monks in their own monasteries.

They came back with new findings about the human brain—and the benefits of meditation.
The study was conducted in May of this year as part of a University
of Victoria (UVic) and University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus
(UBCO) joint research venture. The study was led by UVic neuroscientist
Olav Krigolson with Gordon Binsted, dean of the Faculty of Health and
Social Development at UBCO.

Whether you call it meditation or mindfulness, there's no doubt that
humans are able to achieve a "brain state" during which they are happy,
thoughtful and focused. "Scientists have quantified this, finding that
deep levels of meditation are correlated with differences in electrical
signals produced by neurons," says Krigolson. "We have this evidence but
no one really knows how it works."
Using a headband-sized electroencephalography (EEG) system, with its
software unlocked and modified for research purposes, Krigolson and
Binsted set out to provide more insight into what the corresponding
neural activity means.

With a sample size of 27 monks from Namche and Tengboche monasteries,
Krigolson says "we now have a clearer picture of what's happening
during meditation."

Credit: University of Victoria
In line with previous work, preliminary findings show increases in brain activity
during meditation. Specifically, they're seeing increased alpha
activity (associated with relaxation), beta activity (associated with
focus) and gamma activity (associated with increased synchronicity in
the brain) during meditation as opposed to rest.

Further, they found that neural responses to visual stimuli were enhanced after focused attention meditation—a new finding.

"What these preliminary findings tell us, is that there is a potential that intentional brain training techniques such as meditation
can have long-lasting effects on brain function," says Binsted. "Moving
forward, it will be interesting to see how this and future research can
be used in everything from strategies for teachers to the development
of mindfulness apps on smartphones."

Credit: University of Victoria
Concurrent with the monk study, Krigolson
and Binsted travelled to Everest Base Camp as part of a larger
international group of researchers studying the effects of altitude on
bodily functions.

"We hardly know anything about the brain," says Krigolson. "We know
very little about how people learn and make decisions. All this research
is designed to create a picture some day about how the brain works...
and there are currently a lot of missing pieces to the story."

Krigolson and Binsted's research using the portable EEG system in the
Himalayas has been an extreme usability field test for other research
such as the effects of fatigue in medical, industrial and educational
settings.

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About Me

Charles G. Irion is the award-winning author and founder of Irion Books LLC which includes Remodeling Hell, Autograph Hell, Car Dealer Hell and Divorce Hell. In addition, Charles has authored a series of murder mystery novels set against the backdrop of the Seven Summits; they are Murder on Everest, prequel Abandoned on Everest, Murder on Elbrus, Murder on Mt. McKinley, Murder on Puncak Jaya, Murder on Aconcagua, Murder on Vinson Massif and Murder on Kilimanjaro.

A successful investor and businessman, Irion is the founder of U. S. Park Investments, a company that owns and brokers manufactured home and RV communities. In addition, Charles released Roadkill Cooking for Campers - The Best Dang Wild Game Cookbook in the World.